Live push

Recently more and more things have been pushing me towards what i will refer to as 'Microsoft Live'. I have been getting increasingly depressed with the transition from IE 6 to IE 7. It seems like there has been a drop in usability with that switch over. Because of this and the negative windows vista reviews I have been trying to stay away from New Microsoft computer products. I don't prefer macs but right now it seems as if Microsoft is trying to drive many users towards them.

Man do I love the 360 though. XBOX 360 so far has been the single most perfect gaming tool somebody could invent. With spectacular graphics I couldn't wait to see what this baby performed like on the Xbox live network. Let me just say that Gears of War + xbox live = No life ever again. I think my grades slipped a whole .5 when I hooked my xbox up(sarcasm).. But because of this success of the Xbox 360 live system I decided to try my hand at Windows Live search and Windows live mail. I had to create a 'windows live ID' anyways for Xbox and decided at this point it would be less harmless to do so online. I was mostly right.

I already had a hotmail account and I liked the way it functioned. On hotmail I felt much like i could organize folders on a computer and direct files(emails) to save in certain spaces like on my actual computer. but due to my enjoyment of hotmail and xbox 360 i decided, with the guarantee that I could switch abck at any time during the beta, to try windows live out.

I like it. You can organize your email with the same functionality as before, the difference is now it appears more like a 'feed reader' than an email in box. there are many options and many looks. if you compare the difference between feed demon and windows live mail they may wind up seeming very similar. This push from microsoft i believe is simply how they frequently operate. sometimes it can be disappointing sometimes it can be something I truly appreciate, it's hit and miss. I'm glad i figured out however, that i would enjoy the new system before i was forced to use the new system I moved during the gentle nudge instead of being dumped in with the "push". another big incentive of this was the ability to have more email storage. hotmail voluntarily upgraded to 1 GB windows live offered 2 GB of free storage. I kind of felt like MSN was being so nice, I could at least return the favor a little bit and help them try their new product.

At this point I am not sure which I like more, windows live or hotmail. they are both very functional, but I have a feeling that I will wind up appreciating windows live more due to the availability of many extra features such as formatting that is in microsoft word and even emoticons.

Windows Live search on the other hand is a giant mess of gradients and does not perform the one thing that allowed google to succeed over more relevant search methods. ITS SLOW AND LAGGY. I actually almost hate it.